Tell NOAA to Rescind U.S. Navy Permission to Blast Sea Life
with Sonar

Today in San Diego, the California Coastal Commission
said “NO” to the Navy and their plan to deploy bombs and sonar sound off the
Coastline that would likely injure, maim or kill millions of cetaceans over
the next 5 years. They said that the Navy’s position is inadequate and
unsupported by facts. They also said that the Navy did not keep its
agreements in the past and that there was no point in making a compromise
with them. In attendance were Lyndia, Lance and Kim of Whale and Dolphin
Watch, several representatives from NRDC, Greenpeace, many other ocean
organizations and dozens of individuals from near and far.

Although the decision only affects California waters,
it is still significant as it sets a major precedent for the whole country.
This will have far reaching implications for what can be done next, and
ultimately the safety of our cetacean friends, the health of our oceans and
our planet. In this case, your participation may have shifted the tide that
has so long moved in the direction of disrespect and outright disregard for
our oceans. We hear from a major environmental organization that your
signatures have energized this movement in a big way!!!

We are not done with this issue yet. This week end is
our last chance for signatures on our petition to go to NOAA/National Marine
Fisheries on Monday. Will you help us out?

Here’s what we want you to do next:

1. Call and network with your friends and get
them to sign this last petition
2. Post on your Facebook page
3. Go to our Facebook page and like us (link on our website)
4. Sign up for ongoing information Whale
and Dolphin Watch to keep abreast of this issue

Tell NOAA to rescind their decision to authorize and
enable the U.S. Navy to cause such obvious and unnecessary harm to our
ocean’s wildlife by not granting the permit they seek that would allow them
to use sonar and other equipment. This staggering and unprecedented amount
of harm is the Navy’s own estimate of impacts from its training and testing
activities to more than 40 marine mammal species, which can include loss of
hearing, maiming or bleeding to death.

The U.S. Navy is seeking permission to kill, permanently injure, or
otherwise seriously harm whales and dolphins more than 31 million times over
the next five years throughout Southern California, Hawaii, the Gulf of
Mexico, and along the Atlantic Coast, using sonar and other equipment. This
staggering and unprecedented amount of harm is the Navy’s own estimate of
impacts from its training and testing activities to more than 40 marine
mammal species, which can include loss of hearing, maiming or bleeding to
death.

The Navy is seeking permission to increase the use of this devastating
sound and to use it intensively throughout an area the size of the country
of Mexico. This is our last opportunity to comment on this proposal. The
Navy should not be allowed to inflict harm to marine wildlife!

The Navy will use underwater explosions, sinking of ships and active
sonar so loud and intense it can seriously harm or kill marine mammals. This
sonar alone has been implicated in mass stranding of marine mammals all over
the world. Now they are asking to radically increase what they have done in
the past, knowing that its activities will kill, maim, and harass millions
of marine mammals including 9 species listed under the Endangered Species
Act.

Maybe you have watched a whale, dolphin, otter, seal or other marine
mammal, in the wild, or seen "Flipper" or other cetaceans on TV. Possibly
you have dreamed of swimming with them one day. If this is so, you know in
your heart we must do everything we can to protect them. We know how special
they are and why we are in such awe of them. We cannot allow this travesty
to occur in our oceans when we have the ability to stop or minimize this
damage.

Fortunately, there is the possibility to minimize the damage by taking
action right now. The National Marine Fisheries Service's job is to protect
marine mammals and endangered species. With your signature, we will let them
know we are watching, we are expecting them to do their job, and we are not
going to tolerate this mass destruction in our oceans.

By law the Fisheries Service has to let the public comment on its
preliminary decision. We have until March 11, 2013. It has never been more
important than it is right now for all of us to act.

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